corbel

[ kawr-buhl ]

/ ˈkɔr bəl /

Architecture

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noun

any bracket, especially one of brick or stone, usually of slight extent.

a short horizontal timber supporting a girder.

verb (used with object), cor·beled, cor·bel·ing or (especially British) cor·belled, cor·bel·ling.

to set (bricks, stones, etc.) so as to form a corbel or corbels (usually followed by out).

to support by means of a corbel or corbels.

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Origin of corbel

1375–1425; late Middle English <Middle French <Medieval Latin corvellus, equivalent to Latin corv(us) raven¹ + -ellus diminutive suffix

Words nearby corbel

coranto, corazón, corban, corbeil, corbeille, corbel, corbel arch, corbeling, corbelling, corbel out, corbel table

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use corbel in a sentence

A fine and noteworthy feature in this church is the corbel table which runs nearly all round it.
Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey|Thomas Perkins
A legend is connected with a corbel stone near the west end of the north aisle.
Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey|Thomas Perkins
The crevice from which he had just issued ended in a narrow and slippery projection, a species of corbel in the peaked wall.
Toilers of the Sea|Victor Hugo
There is also an unbroken corbel table above the windows, of very expressive, life-like heads, no two of which are alike.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle|C. King Eley

Above this is a corbel table of heads and mouldings which interferes with the upper window mouldings.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle|C. King Eley

British Dictionary definitions for corbel

corbel

/ (ˈkɔːbəl) architect /

noun

Also called: truss a bracket, usually of stone or brick

verb -bels, -belling or -belled or US -bels, -beling or -beled

(tr) to lay (a stone or brick) so that it forms a corbel

Word Origin for corbel

C15: from Old French, literally: a little raven, from Medieval Latin corvellus, from Latin corvus raven

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012